


Intent at Tuning in On You

by Rsbry_Beret



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: Accidental Confession, Confession, Fluff, Get Together, Leif’s video diary, M/M, and it did not go how i expected it to go, bc i cant believe that’s canon and i love it, call me biased but it’s still good, hm, i know the summary makes it sound..., i swear it’s not, ive had this prompt in my back pocket for like a week and a half, man i’m just digging a deeper hole for myself aren’t i?, that answer- projection, why do i always make one of them almost have an anxiety attack???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24191749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rsbry_Beret/pseuds/Rsbry_Beret
Summary: Tobin wasn’t trying to snoop. That should be cleared up right away- it was a real, actual accident that he found Leif’s personal laptop still open on his desk, signed into YouTube and everything.(Rated T for swearing)
Relationships: Tobin Batra/Leif Donnelly
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Intent at Tuning in On You

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles

Tobin wasn’t trying to snoop. That should be cleared up right away- it was a real, actual accident that he found Leif’s personal laptop still open on his desk, signed into YouTube and everything. 

Yeah, he hadn’t knocked before he came in like he was supposed to. Leif had a weird policy about ‘personal privacy’ and ‘I respect your space, please respect mine’. Probably because of that one time in college when Tobin had walked in on him- anyway, Tobin thought it was a stupid policy, but it was Leif’s stupid policy, so he didn’t argue. 

And sure, when Leif hadn’t answered Tobin had come in, but that wasn’t unreasonable! Leif could have slipped on his immaculate and regularly mopped floors and he could be bleeding out from his head. Really, Tobin was being responsible by checking on him. 

Maybe when Tobin saw that Leif wasn’t in the room, he hadn’t left immediately. Sue him, he was hardly ever in here- he and Leif usually chilled in the living room together, and between Leif’s ‘privacy, seriously Tobin, do I need to use it in a sentence?’ and the fact that they had the same work hours, Tobin didn’t usually have a reason to be in there. 

Once Tobin was in the room, he happened to remember that Leif was out for groceries. Whoops? Well, if he was in there anyway he may as well look around, just to tidy up. It’d be a welcome surprise for Leif, coming back to a clean room. 

Of course, the room was already spotless. Whatever. 

Leif’s room was exactly what one might guess- white walls with one blue accent wall, dark wood furniture. Fucking- Tobin blinked. Three bookshelves somehow wedged in the tiny room, all bursting with a weird assortment of classic literature and graphic novels and no less than four dictionaries. The two of them had moved in at the same time, but they were both so busy trying to get all their stuff up the stairs before having to pay for an extra hour with the U-Haul that Tobin hadn’t really had the time to see what Leif’s room looked like. 

There was one lone cactus sitting precariously on the window sill. Tobin looked at it and smiled. 

More interestingly, Leif’s personal laptop was sitting, open, on the desk. Tobin felt himself glide over before he could even pretend to stop himself. 

On the screen was a little loading bar, 98% complete, with little text that said uploading… please do not log out at this time…

The computer pinged, and set back to a YouTube homepage. Oh holy shit. This was Leif’s password-protected, ridiculously-private, undoubtedly-personal video diary. 

And Tobin had access to the whole thing, right that second. 

He backed away from the desk very quickly, not trusting himself not to click through and watch them all. His foot snagged on something, probably the dangerously clean hardwood floors, and Tobin fell, gracelessly, onto Leif’s perfectly-made bed with a whoomp.

<>

By the time Leif got back from the store, Tobin was sitting on the couch watching Star Trek and acting, if he said so himself, totally casual. 

Leif dropped his reusable tote bag (his favorite one, with the whale decal that was made from 100% recycled materials, because he was just that kind of guy) on the kitchen counter and immediately turned around to look at Tobin, hands on his hips and ice cream left to melt rapidly outside of the freezer. 

“Need any help, bro?” Tobin asked nervously. 

Leif squinted. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Dude.”

“Nothing! You know, Leif, in a friendship you need to trust the other person.”

Leif sighed and turned to open the freezer. “For the record, you’re so full of shit I can literally smell it, but rocky road is more valuable to me than this conversation.”

“Ouch. Leif that was… ice cold.” Tobin tried to pay attention to Spock, and failed, like the snoopy monster he was. 

“Stop,” Leif said quietly, in that strangely-fond tone of voice he only ever used when Tobin made a joke that he was trying not to laugh at. 

Netflix asked Tobin if he was still there. He wasn’t sure if he was, actually, but he clicked for the next episode to start anyway. 

Leif always refused to ask for Tobin’s help putting the groceries away, another weird independence thing he had, and Tobin had learned by now that if he argued with Leif on adulting-things he’d just get pissy for a few hours. As it was, Tobin paid more attention to the sound of cupboards opening and closing a few yards away from him than he did the title sequence. 

Tobin couldn’t really believe he was listening to Leif doing chores instead of Captain Kirk doing… something. 

Leif sat down on the couch next to him. “What episode, dude?”

“Uh…” Tobin fumbled with the remote before dropping it on the floor, batteries scattering. Leif stared. “I don’t… know?”

Silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by an urgent “beam me up, Scotty!” spoken from the screen. Slowly, Leif slid from the couch to kneel on the floor, fixing the remote and turning off the tv.

Leif sat back down next to Tobin. 

“Okay, for real, what’s up with you right now?”

Tobin panicked. “I went into your room!”

Leif froze. Then, slowly and purposefully, asked “is that all?”

“I know you don’t like it when I invade your privacy and shit. Seriously, I’m sorry man…” Tobin looked at his hands fidgeting with his ring before laying his hands flat on his knees, forcing himself to look up at Leif. 

“Right,” he said, still sounding cautious. “Well, thank you for telling me-“

“Your laptop was open.”

Jesus Christ, Tobin needed to learn how to shut his mouth. 

Leif sat up straight, stiff, like he wasn’t sure if he should run away or something, which was- which was not good, definitely. 

“As in, my laptop was open and you saw what was on the screen?”

“As in, your laptop was open and I saw that it was still on and that a video was uploading and I was really curious but-“

Leif cut him off this time, voice high as he rushed out “I am so sorry, Tobin. I didn’t want you to find out this way.” He sounded out of breath, like he just got back from jogging or was about to hyperventilate, or… well, probably he was about to hyperventilate.

Shit, he was about to hyperventilate.

“Hey, woah, Leif.” Tobin quickly scooched over, lifting his arm and laying it around Leif’s shaking shoulders, letting gravity pull him down so he was slumping against Leif. 

When Leif got like this, buzzing and anxious and flighty, he needed something to keep him feeling grounded. Tobin first found out about it in sixth grade, right before their Greek mythology debate, when Leif wouldn’t stop pacing until Tobin snapped and tugged him into a tight hug. 

Just like when they were eleven, Leif immediately melted into Tobin, ducking his head under Tobin’s chin and exhaling warmly against his collarbone.

They sat there quietly for a while, Tobin breathing as slowly as possible in the hopes that Leif would match it. He rubbed Leif’s back absentmindedly.

Eventually Leif spoke again, still pressed against Tobin’s chest, but words clear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin everything, and I’ll get over you, I swear, I just need more time. I’m sorry, Tobin. I’m so sorry.”

Tobin blinked. His hand froze on Leif’s back. What.

“What?”

Leif pulled back haltingly, like he didn’t want to at all. “I know you don’t feel the same, and it’s okay, because you’re my best friend first. I just don’t want to lose you, man.” Leif scratched at his neck. 

Tobin blue screened

“No, wait, what? Back up, please. I have no idea what’s going on.”

Leif’s eyebrows furrowed. “You saw what was on my laptop, right?”

Tobin leaned forward slightly. “Yeah. You had your YouTube thing up, and I really wanted to look at it but I knew you’d never forgive me, so I didn’t look, but I shouldn’t have been there in the first place and I invaded your privacy and so I wanted to apologize.”

Tobin watched as Leif’s face contorted rapidly. He tried to count out all the emotions he saw there- confusion, panic, realization- before giving up. Eventually he settled on something trying to be casual but looking more horrified than anything else. 

“Oh. Right. Okay, then.” Leif’s ears were bright red. He tried to stand, but Tobins hand was still half on his shoulder, so Tobin pulled him back down again. 

“No. No, not okay. What were you saying, Leif?” Tobin could feel his heart, not quite stuck in his throat but up in his shoulders, tense and beating fast and too hard. 

“I think you know,” he said quietly. 

Tobin dragged his hand down Leif’s arm, folding around his hand. “I think I need you to tell me.”

Leif stared at their intertwined hands before looking up and meeting Tobin’s eyes. “I’m in love with you, Tobin Batra.”

It wasn’t a surprise, in hindsight. But it was different to know something, intrinsically and unquestionably, in the back of his head, than it was to hear it out loud and in the open. 

Leif Donnelly was in love with him. He tried the words out in his head, curled his mouth around it silently. It felt… nice. 

Leif was still staring at him, hopeful, but Tobin wasn’t done thinking yet. He held his hand tighter. “Give me a minute?”

Leif’s face fell. “Yeah, of course, dude.” He half-stood again, but Tobin didn’t let go. 

“No.” Leif looked confused, torn, a little hurt. “No, stay. I just- stay for a minute while I think?”

Tobin watched as something unfolded in Leifs eyes. He sat down again, calm and soft, and held Tobin’s hand back just as tight. 

Leif Donnelly was in love with him. Was he in love with Leif Donnelly? He stared at Leif’s eyes, blue and bright and shining even in the light of their shitty IKEA lamp that they bought together for Leif’s college dorm. He stared at the curve of his nose, at his lips and his floppy hair and his ears that were still a little red. 

Tobin felt the weight of Leif’s hand in his hand. Tobin didn’t really want that to go away, ever. He couldn’t think of a single time he wanted that to go away, honestly, which meant that whatever he was feeling wasn’t new. 

So, he was in love with Leif, and had been since before he knew what it was. Good to know. 

“I’m in love with you too,” Tobin finally said. Leif’s hand went slack and his head jolted slightly, as if this was any surprise at all. “I kind of only realized right this second, but yeah, I’ve definitely been in love with you for a while.”

Leif swayed slightly, backwards and then forwards again. And then forwards more, so their noses were almost touching but not quite, and it was a little weird to try to meet his eyes, so Tobin just closed his eyes and brought his other hand up to Leif’s jaw, holding him there.

It felt nice to hold him. To just be this close to him. He wondered how he hadn’t figured this out sooner. 

Well, he was glad he figured it out now, at least. No point lingering over lost time when the two of them had so much ahead of them. 

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Tobin said quietly, “and then I’m going to explain to you that if I’d wanted to watch your vlogs I would’ve just hacked into the YouTube servers again, and that I didn’t because I care about you . Is that okay?”

Leif leaned forward the rest of the way, and that was answer enough. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> yay!!!! u finished reading it! Nice. ur comments jump start my personal sunrise so please,,,, bls comment
> 
> fun notes i thought about while writing this-  
> 1\. at first, tobin was going to watch one of life’s videos, but then i got to that point and realized that he’s not that much of a dick, so this happened instead  
> 2\. one of the lines mentions a ring that tobin wears. i imagine its one of those fidget rings (you know, the spin ones?) because tobin has so many fidget toys on his desk. but it could be an ace ring! or just a ring that looks cool idk. i have a ring that’s a skeleton in a top-hat smoking a cigarette, and i personally think that that’s very sexy of me, so imagine any ring u want folks  
> 3\. how obvious is it that i’ve never watched StarTrek???? i’ve tried so hard but there were weird robot politicians that ate babies or something and it was just a little too weird for me...
> 
> anyway, get some rest and make sure you’ve eaten three meals today, fellas :)


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